Last checked at 12 Jan 2010 07:00
| For Immediate Release | 12 January 2010 |
Ideal Shopping Direct PLC
(the 'Company')
Trading Update
Ideal Shopping Direct plc, a leading operator of TV and internet shopping channels, is pleased to announce that the robust sales performance, reported on 17 December 2009, continued through to the end of the financial year, resulting in a record December sales period for the Company.
At our Interim results, we reported flat sales for the first half compared with the previous year. We are now pleased to confirm that at the full year, year-on-year sales growth increased to 9.2%, with the second half performance delivering 18.5% growth, compared with the previous corresponding period. We believe this strong trading performance was due to the successful implementation of a number of management initiatives, marketing promotions and product selection.
As a result of this trading performance, the Board expects a return to profit for the 53 week period to 3 January 2010 with a full year outcome that is significantly ahead of market expectations.
The Company's cash balance at 3 January 2010 was £13.4 million, which includes repayment of the mortgage of £1.6 million on 16 December 2009.
Commenting on trading, Mike Hancox, Chief Executive said:
"I am satisfied with the full year trading performance of the business and believe that we enter 2010 with a solid platform for growth in the coming year. We have implemented a wide range of initiatives to improve our customer service with new strategies covering customer contact, logistics, product selection, marketing and web initiatives. These new strategies are being rewarded by a significant improvement in the customer experience, which is reflected in the increased sales and the return to profitability in 2009."
The Company will announce its preliminary results for the 53 weeks to 3 January 2010 on 23 March 2010.
For further information please contact:
| Paul Wright, Chairman | |
| Mike Hancox, Chief Executive | |
| Ian Jebson, Finance Director | |
| Ideal Shopping Direct Plc | +44 (0) 1733 316203 |
| Jeremy Porter, Ewan Leggat, Laura Littley | |
| Fairfax IS PLC | +44 (0) 207 598 5368 |
| Richard Darby, Nicola Cronk, Miranda Higham | |
| Buchanan Communications | +44 (0) 20 7466 5000 |
Notes to editors:
Ideal Shopping Direct is one of the UK's leading home shopping retailers, selling via its TV channels and the internet. Its main channel, Ideal World, is broadcast on the rapidly expanding Freeview platform as well as on Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat. It has three other channels on Sky, 'Ideal World 2', 'Ideal World 3' and 'Create and Craft', which is also broadcast on the Freeview platform and Freesat.
'Ideal World' offers a broad selection of general merchandise with six product categories, led by Home, Leisure and Craft along with Fashion, Health & Beauty and Jewellery. 'Ideal World 2 and 3' repeat selected shows of Ideal World and 'Create and Craft' is a niche channel selling craft products.
Ideal's transactional websites www.idealworld.tv and www.createandcraft.tv carry a live web stream of the TV broadcasts and offer a wide selection of products sold on TV as well as web-only deals.
For more information see www.idealshoppingdirect.co.uk